NEW YORK, August 2 — Once again New York Media Boat covered the start of ‘The Around Long Island Regatta’, hosted by the Sea Cliff Yacht Club. The boats started six miles southeast off Rockaway Point, in twenty knots of wind, course set for Montauk. After rounding the eastern end of Long Island, they headed through ‘the race’ and west to cross the line in Mannhasett Bay.
Full-resolution photos are available for purchase, please inquire with sail number or vessel name.
It’s always fun to see yourself through someone else’s eyes — especially those of a well-known New York media reporter. Joe Pompeo at Capital New York (it’s the NY “bureau” of Politico) held me up to a giant mental mirror and for a second I almost didn’t recognize the reflection.
Who is this girl that lives in a “beachy two bedroom” and gets personally ferried across the Hudson to her job every morning by the Captain of New York Media Boat? Sounds spoiled. I don’t think we’d get on well.
Oh, wait … that’s … me.
Anyway, I take up a mere two lines in the piece. The story — rightly so — focuses on Bjoern’s ground-up construction of a niche media business. Pompeo nails every detail, from Bjoern’s early sailing experience and his training in journalism and marine science to a foray into yacht photography that grew into welcoming terrestrial and waterborne customers aboard.
Pompeo’s writing flows like a rising Hudson tide, and he captures Bjoern’s passion for his work, summed up in an awesome kicker: “This is pretty fantastic.”
I have to agree.
May and June have been packed will all kinds of boats and regattas.
First to show her sails after a long winter was the Super-Maxi luxury yacht Leopard 3. She can entertain 20 guests, reach speeds of 30+ knots under sail, and was docked at North Cove Marina.
The Class 40 Atlantic Cup boats completed Leg 1 with a spectacular slow finish, as the wind died and the tide switched (the yellowbrick tracker screenshot shows a trying last mile). They also docked at North Cove Marina and restarted a few days later on Leg 2, course set for Newport.
The $6 million French MOD70 trimaran ‘Virbac-Paprec’ stayed at Liberty Landing Marina to host corporate sponsor sails around Manhattan. New York Media Boat was the official photographer and we provided all transfers for their clients. The MOD70 got a mention in Sailing Anarchy when she was struck by a careless transient captain exiting Morris Canal. ‘Virbac-Paprec’ departed New York on June 1st for Kiel, Germany.
Fleet Week 2014 brought a couple of NAVY ships to town, most notably the USS Cole (DDG-67), which unfortunately didn’t make it up the bay to Manhattan and instead docked at Sullivans Piers on Staten Island. It was interesting to watch a Willard Marine 7 meter RHIB — the same craft we use here at New York Media Boat — being lowered off the USS Oak Hill (LSD-51).
North Cove Marina hosted the first OCEAN MASTERS regatta. All five IMOCA’s crossed the start line, as the canon was fired at 12:10 EST on June 1st. The Hungarian team retired within minutes and returned to port to refit their boat. They couldn’t do a 24hr turn-around after a very delayed arrival to New York. The 60 foot boats compete in this new dual handed race as part of the World Championship Series. It was great seeing Ryan Breymaier on (Hugo Boss) and Mark Guillemot (Safran Sailing Team) again. SAIL FAST!
Elliott Dale and Chris ‘Darby’ Walters launched their 19 foot long carbon/kevlar foam composite boat at Liberty Landing Marina to row the North Atlantic Ocean in under 55 days in an attempt to raise money for the Children’s Hospice South West.You canfollow their voyage here.
The Clipper Round the World race finished Race 13 from Jamaica to New York with the fleet spread over a hundred miles apart. ‘GREAT Britain’ was the first boat to arrive Manhattan and we welcomed them at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. It’s an interesting concept as each boat is skippered by one professional sailor and the rest of the crew made up of paying passengers — no experience required.
Our friend Giovanni Soldini is also in town with VO70 ‘Maserati’ for some PR sailing and is currently on stand-by for a North Atlantic record attempt. Also awaiting the right weather conditions is the 130 foot offshore-racing maxi trimaran ‘Banque Populair’. They hope to break their standing record of 3 days and 15 hours from Ambrose buoy in New York to Lizard Point in the UK.
Yesterday we saw the 38 foot sailing vessel ‘Halcyon Daze’ strike the docked MOD70 trimaran ‘Virbac-Paprec’ in Morris Canal, causing damage to the carbon fiber hull.
The captain tried to make a run for it without reporting the incident so we motored up to him to see what he had to say. As his crew attempted to remove the MOD70 paint evidence from their starboard hull and railing, the captain unfurled the main sail ignoring a verbal suggestion to return and report the damage.
An NYPD boat quickly joined the 4-knot ”chase” down the Hudson, ordering ‘Halcyon Daze’ to stop. The captain tried his best to ignore the NYPD’s sirens, lights, and hailer, but after a few minutes, ‘Halcyon Daze’ was forced to return to port and face the damage.
The Port Newark Container Terminal is increasing capacity by taking delivery of three ZMPC Super-Post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes as part of their $500 million dollar expansion project.
After a 13-week journey from Shanghai, the Chinese heavy load carrier ‘Zhen Hua 10’ is delivering the cranes, requiring expert navigation by the Sandy Hook Pilots and Metro Pilots, while entering the port, passing under the Verrazano-Narrows and the Bayonne Bridge.
The USCG established strict criteria in order to safely move the cargo into port:
— Visibility must be a minimum of 2 nautical miles
— Winds <20 Knots: 3 tugs are required / Winds <25 Knots: 4 tugs are required
— Daylight transit only
— Slack Water transit under the Bayonne Bridge
— Two Pilots onboard
The cranes will take about nine days to unload and three months to assemble. They can reach 22 rows of containers across the deck of a ship. The raising of the Bayonne Bridge and acquisition of these cranes enable Port Newark to accommodate the new fleet of supercargo ships.
Travel show host Jim Altman of FOX CT Daytrippers came aboard New York Media Boat for an Adventure Sightseeing Tour of Manhattan. He brought along his expert camera crew to document the ride.
Photojournalist Ryan Bernat installed GoPro cameras all over our boat to capture different angles and we love the way he edited the final final piece!
Norwegian sailor Halvard Eneberg decided to take on some extra diesel before casting off on Easter Sunday. “It’s cheaper in the U.S. than in Scotland,” he said while filling about 20 jerry cans — bringing his fuel total to 150 gallons. The Norwegian crew of three was in high spirits as they made final preparations aboard the 37-foot BalticVaerbitt, which translates to ‘weathered.’
“We went to Pathmark and bought enough food and beer to get us there and back,” Eneberg said.
In 2012, Vaerbitt was sailed by her previous owner from Norway via Spain and the Canary Islands to Saint Lucia and Panama before arriving in New York Harbor. She was put up for sale and Eneberg purchased her with the intent to sail her back to Norway. “We won’t take the northern route because of the ice, and we will head straight for the Azores,” he said.
Clearing U.S. Customs and donning New York Media Boat swag, the team departed Liberty Landing Marina in New Jersey at 18:00 ET, hoisted sail, and set course due east. The crew was looking forward to reaching international waters and exchanging their guest flag for a jolly roger.
More info on the boat, the voyage, and daily position reports at www.vaerbitt.net.
Captain Bjoern was honored to receive the ‘Life Saving Award’ from the Marine Society of the City of New York, for the ‘Sea Lion’ rescue earlier this year.
The festive evening marking their 244th Annual Dinner began with the presentation of Colors by SUNY Maritime cadets, followed by speeches and the presentation of commendations and awards.
The society was formed in colonial days and formally chartered by King George III in 1770. President George Washington was an early honorary member of the group, composed entirely of seafaring captains. The charitable organization supports distressed shipmasters, their widows and orphans.
New York Media Boat salutes their mission!
After a 6,000 mile tow, the ‘Left Coast Lifter’ mega-crane arrives in New York Harbor.
The 150-foot ocean going tug ‘Lauren Foss’, powered by twin diesels producing 8,200 horsepower, completed the move of the crane after leaving San Francisco less than six weeks ago. The voyage took them down the West Coast, through the Panama Canal and up the East Coast to New York.
The convoy of tug, barge, plus support vessel ‘Iver Foss’ passed under the Verrazano Bridge around 10 am this morning and is now docked in Bayonne, NJ.
The ‘Left Coast Lifter’ was previously used on the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge project and will now assist with construction on the Tappan Zee and New New York Bridge.
Several days of below-freezing temperatures have brought the construction around the Tappan Zee Bridge to a standstill. No ferries are running, either — an odd sight for residents of Nyack and Tarrytown, the two towns connected by the bridge.
This morning, a colleague who lives in Nyack sent around a screenshot from a webcam that keeps watch on the construction of the New NY Bridge (it’s set to replace the 58-year-old Tappan Zee). She said the river isn’t frozen shore to shore and that there are breaks in the ice, but there’s no boat traffic at all.
MarineTraffic.com shows the 140-foot Coast Guard icebreaker Sturgeon Bay currently 21 nautical miles upriver, heading south at 10 knots. Check the web-cam around 2:45pm and you may catch them passing by.
My colleague also found this gem in a book from the Historical Society of the Nyacks. An old Ford Model T crosses the Hudson at this same location, between Nyack and Tarrytown, on a fully frozen river in 1920.
Here’s the latest intel on Morris Canal: A few months ago, Matt and I decided to create a custom map of the entrance to Liberty Landing Marina. Using the ‘Record Sonar’ Function on the Simrad Chart Plotter, we spent about 45 minutes running a north-south grid at clutch speed, followed by a few east-west passes for additional data points. The water level was three feet down from high tide.
After uploading the collected data, a contour map of the surveyed area was generated. Using Photoshop, I overlaid some additional satellite imagery plus elements from a NOAA raster chart to build the final image:
Looking at the composite, the edge of the channel is now clearly indicated by a 10-foot depth contour line, and a 20-foot deep hole is visible just north of C-dock — most likely created by the prop wash from the Little Lady when she docks at Warren Street.
Check back for part two of this project, as we plan to survey D-dock to the West End, merging all data for one complete chart.
Thick fog engulfed the Verrazano Bridge as we left New York Harbor heading east for a job off Atlantic Beach. Running solely by instruments, we navigated to East Rockaway inlet in about an hour, when a Mayday broadcast came across the VHF radio at 16:20:
“MAYDAY. This is the ‘Sea Lion’. We’re sinking. Men in the Water.
Water in the wheelhouse. This is our last transmission. We’re going down.”
The broadcast was promptly followed by the US Coast Guard relaying the Mayday and a position of N43.32.xxx, W073.46.177.
I wrote down the numbers and plotted the coordinates. Surprisingly the location showed close to Lake Champlain in upstate New York, about 180 miles to the north, making it unlikely that I was able to hear the actual radio transmission from the ‘Sea Lion’ so clearly. I deemed the given coordinates as improbable and started working the on-board navigation system pulling up a list of close-by ships. Most commercial vessels are outfitted with an AIS transceiver as part of an automated tracking and collision-avoidance system, and chances were that she was still transmitting.
There she was! SEA LION — right on top of that list with a position only about two nautical miles to the south. Putting down the throttle, we made it to the scene in just a few minutes, running 30+ knots in 6-foot seas and less than 200 feet visibility.
The Sandy Hook Pilots also responded, dispatching one of their smaller vessels that was stationed at the entrance to Ambrose Channel. [Read our New Jersey Monthlystory on the Sandy Hook Pilots here].
The Pilot boat was able to pick three crewmembers out of the water, before being prop-fouled by a rope and unable to reach the sinking tug.
There were all sorts of lines, plastic, oil, wood, and other detritus floating everywhere around us.
We spotted a fourth crewmember clinging to the bow of the sinking vessel. He appeared injured and probably had less than a minute before the boat completely went under. I maneuvered closer from the upwind side and nosed my boat against the hull of the tug. Only about three feet of the ships bow were still showing above the waterline.
He attempted to leap towards us just as the last pockets of air escaped from the tug, erupting like a whale’s blowhole as she sank to the bottom in a boil. We were able to quickly pull him out of the cold water. The Coast Guard and NYPD had vessels en route to the scene, so we transferred the victim to the Pilot boat where the injuries could be better assessed and he be kept warm until medics arrived. Unfortunately the helicopters were unavailable to air-lift the victims because of the dense fog.
When we docked at the Atlantic Beach Fire Rescue station, TV crews had set-up Satellite Trucks, and cameras were rolling. You can watch and read some of our interviews here: ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Newsday, Daily News, News 12,WROC-TV, Professional Mariner, Working Harbor, SC&I, Soundings Magazine and Fox News. Special thanks to Asst. Chief Scott Lipschitz and his team for the hospitality on shore.
I was really glad that everyone was safe and accounted for — unlike the New Years Eve emergency we responded to, where a car plunged into Morris Canal and sadly the driver was unable to escape.
The Marine Society of the City of New York later presented us with the ‘Lifesaving Award‘, and the U.S. Coast Guard with a commendation.
And this was the sonar signature of the ‘Sea Lion’ resting at the bottom of the sea in about 50 feet of water:
After four consecutive days of temperatures topping out in the low 20’s (-6C), ice started forming quickly in many areas of New York Harbor.
The outgoing tides swept ice floes downriver, making navigating the Hudson and East River a bit of a challenge:
Our New Year’s Eve was one of extremes.
At midnight, we rang in 2014 watching the Statue of Liberty fireworks from the bridge of the 210-foot yacht, Hornblower Infinity (we’d been asked to assist with docking).
A few hours later, we were cutting across the Hudson in our RHIB returning to Liberty Landing when we heard the Coast Guard call: vehicle submerged in the Morris Canal. Our marina.
Bjoern put down the throttle. My mind raced: What could we do if we’re first on scene? Would we be able to break a window? Jump in and pull someone out?
What if we saw a face and hands banging at the glass as the car filled up and went under?
Since Bjoern’s a trained emergency responder I knew he’d figure out the logistics. But when we arrived on scene about three minutes later, there was no car — not even bubbles. Yet there were plenty of eyewitnesses and Jersey City police officers standing on a nearby dock, pointing to a spot on the water where they saw the car go down.
An eyewitness said she thought she saw three people sinking in the maroon Altima.
We searched the surface with flashlights for any signs of disturbance, and to allow potential escapees to know which way was up. We did that for about five minutes before the Jersey City Fire Boat arrived from the other end of the marina. They seemed to have no divers on board and started feeling around for the submerged car with boat hooks.
Bjoern thought that was inadequate and put out a call on the radio for anyone with divers in the area to get to Morris Canal. We were relieved to see the NYPD Harbor Unit and Scuba Team arrive moments later.
Since our RHIB enabled the quickest access to the site, two divers jumped aboard and we ferried them to the spot.
The air temperature was 24 degrees Fahrenheit, the water about 49 degrees, but this elite team of responders jumped right in. You could hear the shivering in their voices over the diver-to-surface radio. They “mowed the lawn” searching for the car, keeping a strategic back-and-forth pattern in less than an arm’s length of visibility.
With no luck on the first round of passes and running low on air, two relief divers were sent in. They held the same pattern and finally located the car, which had drifted with the current about thirty feet away from where it plunged into the canal.
One diver surfaced with a jacket. The other came up with a victim, and swam him to the dock. Even though it had been more than an hour, the NYPD was optimistically treating it as a search and rescue operation. Several factors were in the victim’s favor: he was young, the water was cold. People had been revived in less forgiving circumstances.
As EMS attended to the victim, two more divers splashed. The eyewitnesses said there were three people in the car; only one was accounted for. They scoured every inch for the others, but found no one.
To be certain, the officers interviewed the eyewitnesses on the dock once more, who now said it was possible only one person was involved in the accident after all.
NYPD decided the raising of the vehicle should be conducted in daylight, when the Army Corps of Engineers could get to the scene. They thanked us for use of our boat, and we thanked them for their impressive service.
We got back to our slip at about 6:15 am, and drove home as the sun was rising. News reports told us that our victim didn’t make it. He was only 22.
I’m still processing the contrasts of that night: how it’s possible, in one moment, to feel that you’re exactly where you’re meant to be – and then in just a few short hours, you’re reminded that sometimes you will be just minutes too late.
Over the summer, we spent a day at sea with the Sandy Hook Pilots on assignment for New Jersey Monthly. We watched them scale the Jacob’s ladders of giant oil tankers and container ships to steer these behemoths safely into port.
We’d ride with the launch back and forth between ships, picking up pilots and dropping them off. It was a gorgeous day, and could easily make you think the pilot’s life is for you. But change the setting to a freezing winter day with seas kicked up ahead of a nor’easter, and you start having second thoughts. The transfer from the launch to the ladder of a 1,000-foot container ship turns from a fun leap into one of life-or-death: it has to be timed precisely, lest you fall in the drink or get squeezed between two vessels.
That’s why Pilot personalities are the perfect blend of adventurous and competent. These guys have the responsibility of ensuring that billions of dollars’ worth of global trade arrives to final destinations in the ports of New York and New Jersey.
Check out the full Sandy Hook Pilots article and photo essay in the December issue ofNew Jersey Monthly — now on newsstands — or read it here at this link.
NYPD cars, news trucks, and choppers converged on Liberty State Park this week to track down an escapee. But this was no ordinary escaped convict. This was an escaped orphan.
Yes, a very famous orphan: Annie.
Will Smith and Jay-Z (who clearly has a fondness for the movie’s score) are producinga modern-day version of the famous musical.
It’s not clear what scene they’re filming in the park, but actors Dorian Missick andTracie Thoms appear to be driving little orphan Quvenzhane Wallis somewhere. Check out the rig set up on the roof of the old station wagon. It allows someone to drive the vehicle while lighting and camera gear, mounted to the hood and windshield, capture the action.
The crew had two choppers — A Bell 429 to actually appear in the movie, and an AStar 350 operated by Wings Air Helicopters. The latter was outfitted with aPictorvision gyro-stabilized camera system to shoot everything happening on the ground.
Maybe we’ll see some of our boats in the background when the movie comes out next year — on Christmas Day 2014.
As part of a UK film production, the crew of New York Media Boat spent all night working both boats on the East River. “ROLL SOUND, ROLL PICTURE” .. “ROLLING” .. “ACTION!”
While Aperture served as a camera platform hosting Cinematographer Till Neumann and team, Searider is the on-screen boat. In the picture below, Till films the action from the bow, with a RED camera. In this scene, the two actors had just stolen the boat and are joyriding in front of the Manhattan skyline.
The goal of the evening was to shoot three scenes for the trailer of An Evening with Donald Kempinski, written and directed by Timothy Murray of Little Fella Films. It’s a Staten Island Ferry captain’s tale of acceptance and reconciliation. “CUT! TAKE IT FROM THE TOP” calls Tim over the radio and we reposition the boats for Scene 13, Take 2.
Lots happening on the Hudson during this incredible extended summer — including stunning, contrasting examples of power.
On a recent photo excursion, we spotted the tail section of a submarine, possibly on its way to the NAVY shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. Will it be a ballistic missile sub, or an attack sub? Check out this piece from Undersea Warfare on how they put one of these together.
A little less intimidating — but no less exciting — was a visit from the BayCycle Project. Founder Judah Schiller straps two pontoons to his bike, which powers a propeller and pushes him across the water. In late September, he became the first person to bike across the San Francisco Bay, and last week, the first to pedal across the Hudson — without the help of a bridge, of course.
Nearly all U.S. submarines are nuclear powered. Schiller runs on elbow (knee?) grease. Quite the contrast of high-tech versus low-tech power.
A few years back, New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist starred in an episode of MSG’s The Game 365, giving host Fran Healy a tour of his native Sweden. Much of the second half of the interview was filmed on a yacht, cruising the waters outside of Gothenburg. Lundqvist said he didn’t own a boat there, but like any good Scandinavian, he had a deep love for the fjords and had accumulated plenty of sea time on friends’ vessels.
So, then, what better follow-up than some seafaring on the Hudson River? On Tuesday, Healy and Lundqvist boarded the 43-foot Beneteau Gemini at 79th Street Boat Basin to continue their conversation for another episode of the show. New York Media Boat hosted two MSG cameramen charged with getting wide shots of Healy and Lundqvist soaking up the sun and salt. (Since our RIB Aperture wasn’t available that day, we owe many thanks to Halcyon Sailing for loaning out Protector.)
One of the best-dressed and most seen athletes in New York, Lundqvist fit right in on a luxury yacht. His white button-down (top button unbuttoned, of course) tucked into his dark denim jeans with the help of a massive belt buckle emblazoned with the letter H. A dive watch and his classic stubbled face made it even easier to blend in as a sailor.
The shoot took about two hours, but few of the details from the interview made their way across the water.When the boats finally docked, everyone had a few minutes of downtime and conversations started.
The Swede was surprised to hear another Scandinavian name when he was introduced to Bjoern. He said he knew Flensburg, the northern German town on a fjord of the Baltic Sea where Bjoern grew up. The conversation was quick but we managed to snap a photo before Lundqvist was ushered off to the next event.
The episode is set to air at the beginning of the regular season in October.
NEW YORK, July 25th — New York Media Boat is at the start of the 2013 Around Long Island Regatta. Strong wind and rough seas make for exiting conditions as 74 boats sail across the line passing the committee boat just north of Ambrose Light.
The non-spinaker boats start first, followed by the ones with kites, then the double handed group, multihulls, and finally the IRC fleet — all heading east on this first offshore leg towards Montauk Point.
You can follow some of the boats via the Kattack tracking system and check out a selection of photos on our ALIR page. Full-resolution images are available for purchase, inquire with sail number.
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